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Sunday, June 16, 2013

Delmar DE. Mayor Walks Out OF Police Commission Meeting

Over a year ago the Delmar Police Department recognized the need for extra duty on Rt 13. Speeding was a real problem. Accidents were frequent and of course, 13 is a major corridor for drug trafficking. It was agreed that the officers would do the patrol on overtime rather than take time away from their regular patrolling and calls for service. It was also agreed that the revenue generated from any tickets written would pay that overtime and what was left, along with revenue from Maryland’s RedSpeed program, would help fund a pay scale adjustment. The agreed upon program by both parties was to last three years.

A year later, when the new budget was being introduced, the Delaware Council had conveniently forgotten their commitment to the Police Department. It was then brought up at the Police Commission Meeting not long ago. There really was no chance for discussion because Delaware Mayor Houlihan got up and walked out of the meeting once it was brought up. He clearly didn't want to be on the record.

At the Joint Council meeting it was brought up again and Delaware denied it, even with documented proof of their commitment. At some point in the meeting, Delaware chose to not forward any of the money generated (over $30,000.00) by the program to the Police Department. They stated that the program had been successful and had run its course and discontinued it. What kind of sense does that make? Although the Daily Times Reporter was present during this meeting, they never reported Houlihan walking out. Your local Newspaper/Media is supposed to tell you all sides of the news. Instead, here on the Eastern Shore, it's very customized and bias. Unless your a Good Ol' Boy.

There's no doubt that crime has risen like there's no tomorrow in Delmar, both sides. Officers had been working their tails off for more than a year now and all of a sudden the Mayor cut the program. 


Now, I hear that the Delaware Mayor and Council are telling everyone that the program was funded by a grant, and the grant had ended. That is simply not true!

Lives are being risked because the Delaware side of Delmar is refusing to pony up THEIR SHARE of Police protection and taking money from a program to make citizens safer and using it for other purposes. 

Once the SPD and WCSO became more proactive towards drugs and crime, (I stated this several months ago) the crime/criminal activity spread out to Towns like Delmar and Fruitland, as expected. 

Some of you have stated, where did all this crime come from and why haven't I heard about it. Well, the Daily Times could have easily informed you of what happened in that Police Commission Meeting, they refused. When I started Salisbury News I exposed Police Reports and even 8 years ago we heard the same thing, where did all the crime come from. Well, Police Reports don't sell Newspaper. Therefore they simply didn't publish them. The crime was always there, the public just wasn't aware of it, until SBYNews came along.

Now I'm telling you for a fact, crime is way up in Delmar. I'm warning you of this well ahead of time. Your Delaware Mayor knows for a fact it's way up and instead of being proactive, he's cutting programs and refusing to use those funds to hire more Police Officer and even making sure there's not enough money for overtime with the few Officers they already have. 

Chief Saylor should be screaming at the top of his lungs for relief. He's been in the police business, (in Delmar) for some 30 years now and as a Leader he should NOT stand for it. 

Then again, IF people/businesses like the Daily Times keeps it hush, who's gonna ever know, right? WRONG! Now more than 30,000 people a day are reading about it and you will probably see it all over your local news very soon, if they have any kind of conscience.

Demand Mayor Houlihan put that funding back into the Safe Streets Program and SUPPORT your local Police Department, who are understaffed, underfunded and burnt out! 

42 comments:

Anonymous said...

The crime really has gotten out of control. I live in town in Delmar, and I'm adamantly looking to move. It's ridiculous that they don't want to do anything to correct the issue.

Anonymous said...

Well I recently received a warning ticket for one tire sitting in MY grass in the Wood Creek subdivision. I guess we are protected in our neighborhood if they have time to issue me a warning at 445pm.

Anonymous said...

So what did Delaware do with the "over $30,000?

Anonymous said...

had they really put in that clause for tickets to pay the overtime, that would be a direct conflict of interest. can you imagine if every cop only got paid on what he wrote?

Anonymous said...

They used the money to pay they bills. Delaware can't pay they bills now. Maryland pays it's bills, saves money, and managed to cut taxes this year. Maryland wont pay delawares bills anymore. They on they own. Mayor Anderson and the Maryland commissioners know they business.

Anonymous said...

Didn't a delaware commissioner walk out out of a council meeting two weeks before? That was the one who wanted to reduce the size of the police department to 9 - in the middle of a crime increase. He's an idiot. The Delmar Fire Department is a great group. Why do they let that guy be a member and take a chance of making them look bad.

Anonymous said...

I heard a council person walked out too! What's up with that? Delaware elected a bunch of babies! No wonder they can't get their act together!

Anonymous said...

$30,000 for strippers & beer would be an excellent choice!

Anonymous said...

Pretty much how it works 1:28.

Anonymous said...

Maybe the town should be equally worried about the police department AND their office staff in town hall. A lot of waste in there! And if the employees do VERY questionable things I guess they just give them a new position instead of seeing them to the door.

Anonymous said...

3:09, this is why the Tea Party exists. Deceit and corruption go all the way down to local government.

Anonymous said...

So, Delaware has an extra $30,000 in their surplus this year? Fantastic!

Anonymous said...

I believe the Town Council really need to look at who they have hired to run the show. Unfortunately, none of the council members can be babysitters, and really they shouldn't have to be. Even though the council is ultimately responsible, they should be able to count on their department heads to be responsible and act in the best interest of the town. The department heads should share any and all information with the council.It doesn't look like that is happening. I would imagine it is a pretty crappy feeling when you get blindsided by issues that you know nothing about because it has been purposely hidden for their own agendas

Anonymous said...

No offense,but every time the word "corridor" comes up in reference to a drug issue it's usually a Mike Lewis special.Maybe that word makes it sound more serious.If that decision was made over a year ago then a big mistake was made.Delmar should not be focusing on 13.MSP,DSP,and Delmar should ALL focus on that corrider.

Anonymous said...

$30,000 in the bank? Think again. I think they said there was $7,000. So, I guess we are only missing $23,000. No big deal.

Anonymous said...

I moved my family away from Delmar quickly it was becoming too much of a hood....

now I strongly believe that maybe the Delmore please department should only Patrol that Maryland side and let Delaware State Police pick up for Delaware is not doing what they're supposed to be doing.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately DE State rarely comes this far down and MSP doesn't go up there unless called so Delmar is normally left fending for themselves. Last week there was an accident eight in front of the weigh station and only Delmar PD was on the scene even though it was only about 1/4 of a mile from the MSP barracks.

lmclain said...

Who is kidding us? "Drug corridor"? EVERY major highway --- every one - is a drug corridor. Drugs move thoughout the country on the highways. Interstate highways are the fastest and easiest, but if anyone thinks that monitoring the "drug corridors" will stop drugs, they are probably taking Ecstasy, because they are currently delusional. Just another excuse to put the hammer down on people. For more money.. Who wants to argue against fighting it? ITS MONEY. Thats all it's about. And apparently, they can't even get THAT straight. If they only had MORE police. More money. More time. More press releases to scare us. We have to make sure that the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people driving on Rt 13 don't exceed the speed limit, but ya can't patrol neighborhoods and ya can't saturate high crime areas? Ain't no money in protecting us from burglars, but there's a gold mine on RT 13! Did I mention it's all about money??

Anonymous said...

Anyone who walks out is immature, has poor communication skills and is a person who is not willing to work a situation out, wants it all their way

Anonymous said...

Houlihan? He's not done the town any favors either. Just how many tax breaks has he and his family received over the years? I imagine just a portion of what they should have paid would probably cover the shortages in the current budgets

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Imclain. You are correct.

Anonymous said...

Sounds me like the Town of Delmar trying to shake somebody down.

sean said...

So what do you want Joe, smaller or bigger government? I always appreciate your argument for smaller government but with a lot of issues, particularly the NSA story and this, you contradict yourself. As do many of the folks who leave comments.

Anonymous said...

I don’t know why those cops stay there so long. They are the lowest paid and under staffed by TOTAL population than any other town. I hear the public works are paid laborer wages, with no skilled employees. They have to outsource all the work. No wonder they are broke. The town is mismanaged all the way around. They need to fix it up and make it appealing for home ownership rather than section 8, trailer parks, and homes converted into multi-unit rentals. The town has potential.

JoeAlbero said...

anonymous 9:36, what do you mean bigger government? Delmar had a plan in place being proactive and self sufficient. They Mayor of Delaware acknowledged the SUCCESS of the program and then pulled ALL of the funding the Officers had already raised.

Guess what, now the MARYLAND side will continue to get additional protected and the Police Department will NOT cover the Delaware side with extra protection/patrols.

Guess where the DRUGS will go next? Guess how long it will take to dispatch a Delaware State Trooper to Delmar Delaware!

PUBLIC SAFETY IS THE VERY MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE FOR ANY TAXPAYER. Not according to the Mayor of Delmar Delaware.

My property is protected by Guard Dogs, a security system and infra red cameras. We are a very strong 2nd Amendment Family as well. I hope other Delmar Delaware residents install the same safety features because they're going to need it now.

As for the NSA story, I didn't write it. Don't you ever believe for a second that I agree with every story that is published on SBYNews.

Anonymous said...

Delmar is a great place to live and raise a family. I wouldn't live anywhere else. But, we have problems just like anywhere else. This is what I have observed; the old council, all of it, was stagnant. Maryland is essentially brand new. They are looking at things with a fresh eye. They know what the problems are and are eager to fix them. No offence to Delaware, but Maryland us younger too. They know that society is changing and want to meet current needs. Delaware is still the same old council. They were in office back in the day when the biggest menace to society was the youngsters riding the strip with a beer in their hand. They don't have a handle on what is happening now. Of course the police department hasn't helped because they don't share the info they have. We always see news and press releases about other towns. Not Delmar. They want the people and the council to believe there are no problems. The town should have been planning ahead as far as crime goes. From what I have read, Maryland wanted to move in that direction and they were basically shot down by Delaware because of finances. Is that fair to Maryland?

Anonymous said...

It was also agreed that the revenue generated from any tickets written would pay that overtime and what was left, along with revenue from Maryland’s RedSpeed program, would help fund a pay scale adjustment.

Now wait a minute.

How many times have we been told that the money from tickets DOES NOT go to the police?

Supposedly, cops themselves have come on here and stated that.

So, which is it?

Seems like they can't get their story straight on this issue either.

Like the quota issue. They denied, denied, denied, until they were red in the face that there was NO QUOTA for writing tickets.

Then a senior official within the state police ADMITTED there was indeed a quota system in place, and had been for a very long time.

But government would not lie to us would they?

Joe, you have the right idea about protecting your family, your property and yourself.

As I'm sure many others will use the 2nd amendment to do as you do also.

Always say you aimed for a leg, but you can't help it if you missed and hit a vital organ instead. Oops.

Anonymous said...

Wow! , we have been thinking about getting away from Wicomico County , and moving to Delaware , Delmar was a choice. Not Now!
The corruption is everywhere .

Anonymous said...

Absolutely correct.

Anonymous said...

Who said anything about a quota?

Anonymous said...

Del state police want the drug dealers moving to the Delaware side. Del state police have been making two times the drug arrests as Maryland if you read all local news. This is Maryland's way of moving the drug dealing out of the Maryland side of this town, let Delaware have them.

Anonymous said...

Cops need to focus on the bad guys instead of seeing how many traffic tickets they can write to get a raise. Policework is about public service, not money. If cops want to get rich then they should start a business installing windows or something.

JoeAlbero said...

anonymous 8:26, Perhaps you don't understand how it works.

The Delmar Police Department functions business as usual each and every day. Officers cover patrols on a regular basis.

Other Officers work OVERTIME to help BUILD the revenue to hire new Officers so the TAXPAYERS don't have to.

If you knew what you were talking about it would be one thing. However, now that you know, I would think you'd have a new respect for the FACT that they are doing MORE than what most other businesses or municipalities would ever be willing to do, especially at the BS pay that these Officers get in Delmar in the first place.

Like any Police Department, there are some good apples and some bad. I'll add, Sheriff Lewis does a lot of the same with drug money seized from arrests made on the Bypass. He too gets to keep the majority of that money which helps afford the Sheriffs Department new state of the art equipment without it costing the taxpayers.

Anonymous said...

Well this is the truth. There are no quotas. The U.S. supreme court says quotas are unconstitutional. Money doesn't come back to the police. In delaware it comes back to the towns not the police departments. In maryland it doesn't come back to anyone. You must consider the source before you jump to conclusions. MSP gives highest producing officers things like unmarked cars as an incentive to produce more citations, DUI arrests, etc. MSP has always been a money maker for the state and it always will be.

Anonymous said...

Wow Joe, you've really made me see the light on this. I guess DPD should be stopping every car they can and writing as many tickets as possible. Maybe they will get bad drivers like you off the roads before you hurt someone else.

JoeAlbero said...

anonymous 9:43, Grow Up!

First of all, I don't SPEED in Delmar. In fact, how can you when every redneck in a 4x4 pickup slows to 2 mph to ride over the R/R tracks.

The speed limit in town is 25 mph and most do around 17 mph.

Nice to see a jerk like you making such a manly statement under anonymous. Come out of the closet Antwan. Who knows, maybe you can become the next Mayor tough guy.

Anonymous said...

Everything you just said is true Joe. I couldn't stop laughing after I read your comment.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Who said anything about a quota?

June 12, 2013 at 8:11 AM

Well this is the truth. There are no quotas. 9:21 AM

Some are just too dense to respond to.

Anonymous said...

sue

Anonymous said...

Please keep on top of the Delmar stories...it's important for those of us who live here and like it here.

Anonymous said...

A house in my neighborhood in Delmar, Md was broken into while an elderly lady was there. She was unaware that anybody had been there. All of their jewelry was stolen. Many people don't keep their doors locked all the time. Thank goodness the lady was unharmed.

Anonymous said...

Apparently Delmar now has a major heroin problem. Lots of property being stolen and homes broken into so these drug users can feed their habit.